Of all the
fellows who was 100% in on the Corregidor action, save for the few hours the third
battalion was ahead of us second battalion contingent, I remember the least, if all the
history coming out recently is to be believed. But now at last I have come across an
incident where I have indisputable remembrances, "Suicide Cliff fairy tale."

I was one of the most active of troopers in the
so-called two
platoons who were assigned to heave the bodies of the killed Japanese soldiers early on
the morning after the 19 February. I never saw a single Japanese "leap" over the
cliff or any sign that any had done so during the night attack. Any of them that ended on
the beach either fell during the attack (which is pure speculation) or were thrown over.

One of us would grab the feet and another the arms and swing them over
as far as we could. I believe this was done to reduce the smell of decaying
bodies in that tropical setting, if that was ever possible. We were so
desperate to get this chore over with that I can't even recall any of us
worrying in the least with searching their bodies for souvenirs or even
military information.

I hope this sets to rest this small item once and for all, brochures
notwithstanding.

Don Abbott

to Paul
Whitman

The Filipinos love
rumors. If they don't have
an old one to pass on they
make up a new one. During my
first trips back to the
Island, in the 80's there
was little, or no, electric
power. They had the
strangest collection of
lamps you could imagine but
those were hot and smelled
bad. A good deal of the time
you sat around in the dark,
drinking San Miguel, and
telling stories (lies). One
rumor which has taken on the
cloak of fact is the
"suicide cliff" along the
Cheney road. One 503rd
friend who was there the
morning of 19 Feb 45 told me
the dead Japs began to smell
early in the day and he, and
others, were detailed to
drag them over to the cliff
and throw them over. He said
one man would grab the feet,
another the hands. They
would pick them up, get them
swinging and then give them
a good toss. When "E"
Company was attacking
Battery Monja on 23 Feb 45
we saw the results along the
hillside to the North of the
South Shore Road. There
looked to be many swollen
bodies and equipment. Graves
registration must have
spotted the remains later on
and maybe they started the
rumors about "suicides."

I tried to get this across
to some of the Filipino
guides but they told me they
had many Japanese tourists
they tell the story to. The
Japs get all weepy and give
the guide "big tips". The
rumor will continue as long
as the Japs tourists come.

Don Abbott

Robert J. Flynn

to John Lindgren

Subject: Re: Japanese reported suicides on Corregidor,
P.I.

John,

I talked tonite with one of the former Engineers from the 161st, a
Warren Elfrank who was a corporal at the time we jumped on Corregidor. He
related that his squad which was led by Sgt. Eugene Whitman, was sent to
Wheeler Battery after the fighting to help dispose of the bodies of the enemy and recover the dead and wounded
American troops. His account supports your recollections and those of
Tony Sierra. Warren indicated that the men assigned to the detail paired off and took the Japanese corpses by
the arms and legs and swung them over the side. He indicated that he could
not see the beach below and had no idea where the bodies would come to rest
after they were disposed of. That puts the beach patrol that I was in at a
different location on the island. There aren't many of our engineer group left but I will pursue this until we get at least one other eye witness.
Cecil Duquesne should be able to shed some light on this.